1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telephone interface apparatuses and jacks, and more particularly, to a station interface and protector apparatus which permits isolation of a subscriber's telephone line wiring from the incoming telephone lines in order to isolate problems appearing on the telephone lines and provides a device for a subscriber to lock the interface apparatus while permitting the telephone company serviceman to override the subscriber's lock for servicing.
2. Discussion of the Relevant Art
With the advent of the breakup of the telephone company as it was formerly known, individual customers are permitted to connect their own independently purchased telephones to the incoming telephone lines. In order to minimize the amount of tampering and/or connections that a customer will make to the lines already installed on their premises, numerous systems and devices have been invented to permit connection by the consumer of an owner purchased telephone, which has a modular plug disposed on the distal end of its line cord. This modular plug is adapted to be received into a modular jack or receptacle and thus, the normal terminal block installed by the telephone company is required to have an adapter connected thereon capable of receiving a telephone line cord plug. Typical of these converters is the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,505 issued to R. J. O'Connor which provides for a simple conversion from a conventional terminal block to a modular type receptacle or jack.
Another type of device utilized with these plug-in receptacles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,787 issued to B. W. Gumb, et al on Sept. 13, 1977 which permits a singular modular plug similar to that found on the distal end of a telephone line cord to be coupled to a housing in which a plurality of receptacles disposed in parallel are incorporated. These additional receptacles permit the use of several pieces of equipment all being in parallel with the telephone line into which the line plug has been inserted.
Yet another type of apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,985 issued to R. F. Krolak on Aug. 1, 1978 utilizes a plurality of telephone modular receptacles and a in-line multi-terminal connector permitting the interconnection of telephone equipment and telephone signal equipment.
None of these devices relate to an apparatus which is to be connected at the point where the incoming telephone line pair joins the subscriber's in house wiring. Where the connection is usually made, an apparatus is provided with terminals for the wires and generally includes overvoltage or surge protection. Now that the subscriber or customer is able to connect his own equipment to the incoming telephone lines it is advantageous to be able to isolate the incoming telephone lines provided by the telephone company from the subscriber's or customer's in house wiring so that if a problem should arise on the telephone line one could isolate the problem appearing on the input telephone lines from a problem caused by improper wiring in the subscriber's residence. The incoming telephone lines may be readily disconnected from the subscriber's wiring by removal of a modular cable plug provided in the apparatus described herein, when removed from its receptacle. The apparatus provides direct access to the incoming telephone lines and by placing a known operating telephone line cord jack into this receptacle it can be determined that the incoming telephone lines are operating properly, thus eliminating them as being the source of the problem.
Typical of devices capable of performing the above function is U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,008 issued to Dellinger, et al on Dec. 11, 1984 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,514 issued to Thomas J. Smith on Nov. 25, 1986. However, these devices have a common shortcoming in that the top cap or cover includes a through bolt and/or is made in two pieces. This makes these devices unsuitable for use outdoors, since a path is provided for liquid to penetrate within the housing, and thus, may cause shorting of the telephone lines disposed therein.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that has a unitary top cover and no apertures disposed therein, thus making it ideally suitable for use in the outdoors.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device that can be readily installed by a telephone subscriber that permits separation of the incoming telephone lines from the subscriber's phone wiring.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a replacement housing that may readily be connected to an existing base and is an overvoltage protection device that provides terminals for receiving the subscriber's in house wiring yet maintains continuity with the incoming telephone lines.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a station interface and protector apparatus that is capable of separating the incoming telephone liens from the subscriber's in house wiring and is capable of handling more than a single input telephone line pair.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a reliable inexpensive, weather protected housing suitable to replace the housing presently utilized by the telephone company to connect the subscriber's in house wiring with the incoming telephone lines and yet provides a simple means for isolating the input telephone lines from the subscriber's in house telephone wiring.
It is further another object of the present invention to provide a means for permitting a subscriber to close and lock the apparatus to prevent unwarranted tampering while permitting access by the telephone company's serviceman having his own access device.